In 10 days I will be heading out to complete another 67 miles of the Appalachian Trail! I will begin at 441/Newfound Gap, and will finish at Hot Springs a few days later. After completing this section, I will then have a total of 273.9 continuos miles along the AT completed. Of course though, there are a few sections within this section that I have hiked multiple times, as well as the section between Iron Mtn Gap & US19E that I hiked in 2012 too. Hopefully, I will be able to pick up this 88 mile section between Hot Springs and Iron Mtn Gap on my next hike….
For this hike, I have decided to actually go a little heavier than normal (due to the fact that I will be carrying a much heavier pack in December on my GORUCK challenge, so this can be a little practice for me). As a result, I have decided to add in a few luxury items, as well as using a bear canister that I recently picked up at a great price! Obviously, these items are not normally found in my pack, and still won’t be afterwards, but in this case, they will provide me with a few extra pounds, and provide some extra enjoyment while on the trail, but still not be “stupid-heavy.”
So, here are some numbers/weights (at the time of this writing… if anything is changed, numbers/weights will change on the actual spreadsheet, found HERE):
- My BPW is 15.05 lbs.
- My big 3 consumables weight is 8.57 lbs.
- My TPW is 23.62 lbs.
- My worn/carried items is 4.19 lbs.
- Total skin out weight is 27.81 lbs.
So, yeah, that BPW is kinda up there, and the TPW is a little too, but that is fine with me for this trip. Besides, after packing everything up in my pack and wearing it around home for a while, I have got to say, the pack (ZPacks Arc Blast) feels really, really good. I am not sure if it has something to do with my recent weight loss, or if it just gets better with time, but it rides really great… of course though, the true test will come while on the trail for this hike. (Although, I have carried the Arc Blast on a few other hikes, and even with right at the same weight, and it has done extremely well for me then too… so I am not worried that it won’t be anything less than awesome!)
However, the neat thing about these weights is that this is the lightest I have ever gone on any other hike before, despite it being one of the heaviest BPW’s that I have carried in a long while. When I add the total skin out weight (27.81 lbs) with my current body weight (176.4 lbs), I get a total of 204.21 lbs. A mere 6 months ago, my body weight alone was just over 220 lbs…. this means, even with all of my gear, I am still 15+ lbs lighter than just me a few months ago! At my peak body weight, with this load, I would have been right at 250 lbs… So, I am not too worried about these numbers…
Anyway, as for weather conditions, I am expecting lows around low 40’s, but possibly around mid 30’s, although, this will likely only be up high. I am only staying above 5000 feet one night (at TriCorner Knob Shelter), while the rest of the nights I will be at quite a bit lower elevations. I am not sure what to expect for precipitation at this point, but I am packing for rain, and hoping it doesn’t… Of course though, I will keep my eye on the forecast as time draws nearer, and make any changes that may be required, although, with what I am already carrying, I don’t think I will need to add anything more, and I have no plans to take anything out…
UPDATE: Here is a video that shows the food that I will be carrying, as well as my attempt to shove it all inside the bear canister!
So, that’s pretty much it for now. After I get back, I will of course post a trip report (complete with pics & video) as soon as I get the chance. Until then though, thanks for stopping by!
~Stick~
